Pbenjay's Blog

OH I had so many titles in my head today for this blog; It was a day of making do, a day where if it could go wrong, it went wrong…oy what a day!   And why? Well if I ask my sister-in-law, Juanita, she would say,”Mercury is in retrograde” and if I asked my friend Susan, she might say, “It is what it is”.  I say when you don’t have a lot of money,  you have to go  outside your comfort zone to get something done and along the way, if it can go wrong it will.  I’m not a total pessimist and I’m not saying every day is like that BUT today….!!! and I’ll try to be concise.

I woke up with oozing eye and a puffy eyelid as a result of trouble that began last night when I was out and of course did not have my lens case with me so I couldn’t take it out.  I got on the bus with my $1.15 in change because my metro card rang NOT VALID yesterday. YIKES I thought my account must be overdrawn since the card is an EZPay auto refill. I tried making a quick call to the bank – Oh ha, ha, ha, like anyone could ever make a quick call.  I’m sure the woman on the other end was in a foreign country anyway since I couldn’t hear nor understand her.

English: image edited to hide card’s owner name. author: Arturo Portilla (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m on the bus headed to West 114th Street for a bone density test. Why there? Well, I had no health insurance from 2009 till mid 2012 when I went on Medicare. I had to find a way to get mammograms and some general health care should I need it. Seek in this City and ye shall find!  Hence I’m on my way to St. Luke’s Roosevelt.  And from them, I learned about the Ryan Health Center which is located also way uptown on the West side but is  heaven sent for people who don’t have insurance and need general health care.  The difference is, as you can guess, no frills but good skills and long, long waits.

Just before I left the house I looked at my phone and of course  it was on critical battery. It is always on critical or almost dead.  I’ve just been procrastinating doing something about it because I haven’t found 2 hours of my life I can give over to do battle with Verizon!  So I grabbed my charger and figured I would have time in the waiting room to charge it.  I checked my emails before it died completely and there it was…an email from the broker telling me that his buyer was backing out of the deal we had just accepted the night before and in doing so broke some couple’s heart who really wanted the apartment. Uh huh, this was going to be quite a day!

I had asked Peter to call the MTA to find out what was wrong with my Metro card  while I was gone  and should have known better.   It’s hard enough dealing with any public agency person to person let alone trying to have a 3rd party do it. Of course, there were no outlets in the waiting room and Peter called on the dying cell trying to get info from me for the MTA and of course they called my name at that moment and I had to hang up. Then the woman behind the desk said she didn’t see any Lori on the list and where was my referral? Of course this was the morning I left the referral home.  A supervisor happened by while I was explaining I DID have an appointment and she asked me my name to which I replied, “Lori or maybe it’s under Lorraine”.  Oh yes, there it is ! I guess looking at the list and seeing the same last name but with a shorter-but-also an L name did NOT ring a bell.

In the test room I was asked to remove  the ID bracelet I had on my right arm. This was actually my husband’s high school bracelet with a very old fashioned kind of double lobster claw clasp.  I couldn’t see the clasp (no lens, no glasses) to undo it. The woman couldn’t get it off either.  We were both laughing as I told her he put it on and maybe he would have to take it off  since it seemed locked on like a chastity belt!!

I left the hospital and headed for the clinic thinking I’m in the area and I could be a walk-in to see the ophthalmologist. Along the way, I stopped at a Starbucks to get my caffeine fix.  I ordered my usual Grande Americano with a touch of steamed brevi.  I said a touch! The counter boy charged me 60 cents for the brevi.  I protested I only wanted a splash and that on 85th St they didn’t charge! He said his manager was here and he would get in trouble, of course! I spoke to the manager and Starbucks being the customer-driven company they are, in 2 minutes I had a card for a free drink!

At the Health Center, they told me it would be an hour, so I plugged my phone into the only outlet I could find which was in a hallway and watched it so no one would steal it and waited for someone to come by and ask me just what was I thinking plugging my phone into their wall?  I tried to call Peter to find out about the Metro card and of course, they called my name immediately. I’m in with the preliminary doctor who wants to know what meds I put in my eye last night and the brand of lens I use.   I need to call Peter but my cell is dead so the physician’s assistant says I can use the office phone.  I do and of course, he’s  in the shower.  I insist he get out and get me the info because I have to have it NOW! Then back to waiting room to wait for ophthalmologist and plug in the phone charger again.  Immediately they call my name, of course!

I left the clinic and of course,  now it’s raining. I had only 20 minutes left to use my bus transfer so I race to Columbus Avenue to hop on a bus and when I put the transfer card in, the bus driver says it’s not valid – because I’m back on the same bus line I got on before! Dear God!  OK, I’ll take the cross-town bus at 96th St and then buy another fare to go south on Second Ave.  I see a bus approaching and run across the street and just make it onto the bus, drop my transfer card in the slot and I’m on my way! At Fifth Avenue, I hear a fellow passenger tell some other riders that if they want to continue East on 96th they should get off now because otherwise the bus turns – WHAT?  Of course, I’m not on the real crosstown bus!  I realize right then and there that I’m only a new New Yorker!  I inch my way to the front of the bus and ask the driver where are we going?  Luckily, at 106th St, the bus will go East again.  

On my way down Second Avenue, finally going home I decide to get to Gracie’s Diner and have Peter meet me there for a very late lunch. Uh, of course, I don’t have a cell phone to call him.  I asked the cashier if I could use her phone to call him, hoping he was home and he could just come across the street. Of course, he wasn’t home and he didn’t answer his cell phone either so I left and went home.  I did reach him and we did meet and had the best time eating brisket sandwiches and cole slaw!

So happy to be home…